Recognition

Our pro bono work and philanthropy have garnered numerous awards and honors, including the following more recent recognitions:

2010

• WilmerHale was recently honored with the John Minor Wisdom Public Service and Professionalism Award from the American Bar Association's Litigation Section. The award is presented to individuals and law firms who have made "outstanding contributions to the quality of justice in their communities, ensuring that the legal system is open and available to all." Since 2001, only four other firms have received the award. The Innocence Project, a nonprofit organization that assist prisoners who could be proven innocent through DNA testing, nominated WilmerHale for the award based on our work on behalf of Martin Tankleff and Dewey Bozella.
• The American Lawyer published its annual Pro Bono listing, in which WilmerHale moved up one spot in the rankings to eighth among the AmLaw 100 firms. This ranking is based on the average pro bono hours per lawyer and the percentage of lawyers with more than 20 pro bono hours last year.
• WilmerHale received an Outstanding Achievement Award at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs’ Wiley A. Branton Luncheon, in recognition of the firm’s pro bono efforts. Specifically, the firm was recognized for its work in collaboration with the committee on a pro bono matter for client Emile Mazloum, an American citizen of Lebanese descent who filed a civil rights claim against the District of Columbia and other defendants following an incident of police brutality and anti-Arab violence at a Washington DC nightclub.
• The International Arbitration practice of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP was awarded Pro Bono Team of the Year at The Lawyer Awards 2010 in London. The award was for the firm's work on behalf of The Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A). The firm’s International Arbitration Group together with the Public International Law & Policy Group, represented the SPLM/A in an arbitration against the Government of Sudan over the definition and delimitation of the Abyei Area, a territory roughly the size of Belgium in south-central Sudan.
• WilmerHale was presented with the “Maya Way Award for Community Service,” and recognized as a social justice champion and community partner. WilmerHale established a formal multi-year partnership with Maya Angelou Public Charter School (MAPCS) in 2008, which allows the firm to deepen its work with teachers, staff and the youth, collaborating on how the firm can be helpful in their mission. The firm supports MAPCS on many different levels to meet their needs, including annual unrestricted funding, pro bono work, in-kind donations and volunteer services.
• WilmerHale was recently honored by City Year at its inaugural Legal Community Leadership Breakfast in Boston, MA. The firm was recognized for 20 years of service representing City Year as its pro-bono national counsel. City Year was founded in Boston in 1988. Its mission is to unite young people of all backgrounds for a year of full-time service, giving them the skills and opportunities to change the world.

• WilmerHale was honored with the 2009 Outstanding Pro Bono Law Firm Award by the Political Asylum/Immigration Representation Project (PAIR). PAIR is a nationally recognized model that works to secure safety and freedom for asylum-seekers who have fled from persecution throughout the world and to promote the rights of immigrants unjustly detained.
  
• The Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs presented WilmerHale with an "Outstanding Achievement Award" for our work in representing Liem Truong against the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority for violation of the federal Family & Medical Leave Act.
  
• WilmerHale has consistently ranked in the American Lawyer Pro Bono Scorecard's list of the top firms for pro bono, most recently ranking 9 out of 100 law firms on the 2009 Pro Bono Scorecard.
  
• The firm was included in the annual American Lawyer "A-List", a compilation of the leading US firms and honoring overall excellence, including financial success, commitment to pro bono work, workforce diversity and the training and development of younger lawyers.
  
• The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project honored the legal team that represented Marty Tankleff at their Second Annual Awards Luncheon, receiving the Defender of Innocence award. 
  
• The Boston Business Journal named WilmerHale the "Area's Largest Pro Bono Law Firm" on their 2009 list, comprised of 25 local law firms. The rankings were based on the number of pro bono hours worked in Massachusetts in 2008. 
  
• The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty (NLCHP) presented WilmerHale with its 2009 Pro Bono Counsel Award at the McKinney-Vento Awards Dinner in Washington DC.

• The Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs recognized WilmerHale with two Outstanding Achievement awards for pro bono work on behalf of the Committee in Mazloum v. District of Columbia and Spray v. S Corp.
  
  
• At the D.C. Circuit Judicial Conference, the firm received the Daniel M. Gribbon Pro Bono Advocacy Award for work on behalf of our pro bono client, Timothy Naegele.

• WilmerHale was presented with the 2008 National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA) Beacon of Justice Award in recognition of our significant and exemplary commitment to providing pro bono representation to people on death row.

• WilmerHale ranked among the top firms in The American Lawyer "A-List" recognizing the top 20 US law firms based on results in four categories: revenue per lawyer, pro bono, associate satisfaction and diversity. WilmerHale placed 7th in the nation for pro bono with an average of 126.9 pro bono hours worked per lawyer and 63.5% of lawyers with more than 20 hours of pro bono work. The firm has consistently placed in the top ten since The American Lawyer pro bono survey was instituted.
  
  
• In recognition of the firm's work on behalf of Guantanamo detainees, the firm received the Beacon of Justice award by the National Legal Aid & Defender Association.
  
  
• WilmerHale was honored by the D.C. Circuit Judicial Conference for meeting the Conference's pro bono goal of at least 40% of all associates, counsel and partners meeting 50 pro bono hours per year. WilmerHale has met this goal every year since 2003.
  
  
• Partner Stephen Oleskey received the ABA’s Pro Bono Publico Award for enhancing the human dignity of others by delivering volunteer legal services to our nation's underprivileged. Click here to view Mr. Oleskey's award video clip.